Pictures and images are often used in advertising and other persuasive
situations. Beyond just showing the product, they can have other specific
persuasive messages.

Showing the product

The most basic promotion is simply to show the product, making it clear
what you are promoting. If your customer is not sure what you are selling, this
will make it clear.

The secret of success with product images is the same as with any image:
emotional appeal. If your product is desirable, then simply showing an appealing
picture of it may suffice. Food and high-tech companies both use this principle.

The risk in simple product shots is that customers are not excited and
quickly move on, or think 'so what'. It does not matter if your products excite
you, which they probably do. It is the majority of viewing customers who really
count.

Brand-alignment

An important part of using images in advertising and company literature is
ensuring the picture matches the brand of the product and the organization.

Hence, for example, if the brand value of a detergent is 'soft' then softened
photography of people with soft clothing may help. A brand value of 'innovative'
may be highlighted with unusual and surprising images. A brand value of 'leading
edge' may be reflected in views of high technology contexts, young people being
dynamic, active marketplaces and so on.

Illustrating action

People don't always understand what you are selling, what it is really for or
how to use it to best effect. Pictures can show this, saying 'here's how to do
it' or 'look, it's easy.'

Even if it is obvious, when you show the product being used, you make it
easier for people to imagine themselves using it in the same way as they are
interpellated into the position of the person in the picture.

Telling a story

Stories help
us create meaning in the
way they narrate a sequential reality that aligns with the linear nature of
conscious thought. In the manner that we make stories of our lives as we live each
moment and day, we can likewise make sense of stories that unfold in the same
way.

Stories can remind us of things that have already happened to us or that we
would like to happen. They can awaken inner fears and desires in a style that flat
description cannot approach.

Images can tell stories, even when they are static photographs or drawings.
In fact many of the best pictures are great because of the stories they tell. A
person looking out of a window with a dreamy expression tells a story of wishes
or fond memories. A group of friends laughing over a beer reminds us of our own
friends and how good they make us feel as we relax with them.

Beautiful people

Few adverts use pictures of ordinary people in ordinary clothing. We are
constantly faced with 'shiny, happy people' who beautifully smile at us and
always look great, whatever they are selling.

A reason for this is that when we see images of people, we may be pulled into
the image or project ourselves into it or see it as a kind of mirror as we
identify with the
people there. We can only sustain this if we find that identification pleasant
and harmonious, otherwise we push it away, distancing ourselves from the
unpleasantness.

In this way, the most successful images are those of people who we think we
would like or who we would like to be.

This only backfires if we feel that we are being manipulated or have such a
poor self-image we cannot identify with the models used. This is one reason why
adverts that use 'ordinary' people can effect a reversal that harmonizes with
cynics, snagging them as they push away from more conventional images. Knowing
your audience is the secret of success and not-beautiful people can work if this
knowledge is used correctly.

There has been much criticism of the use of beauty in advertising in the way
that it creates dissatisfaction and unhappiness where people believe they must
be as attractive as the people shown (Richins 1991).

In response to this, more 'ordinary' people are seen now. This can be
successful when viewers find it easier to associate with those who seem more
like them than like their aspirations.

Facial attraction

No matter whether the person in the photo is beautiful or not, we are
programmed to look at faces, scanning them for familiarity, threat or
opportunity.

Faces hence have an attentive power all of their own. It is amazing what we
can determine from a face, recognizing complex emotions and noticing how it
responds to what we say and do.

The mathematics of attractive faces, defined by various ratios and
dimensions, is quite precise. A 'wide-eyed' face, for example, can cause
pleasure or repulsion, with only fractions separating the two.

The faces of babies and children are designed by nature to be attractive to
adults, softening hearts and melting any aggression.

Pictures that are mostly face make us think about the person and their
character. We hence easily relate to them. When more of the body is shown, the
face becomes smaller and we look more at what they are wearing or doing, as well
as the other things around them.

The power of eyes

Melanie Bateson and colleagues famously found in 2006 that putting a picture
of a pair of eyes above a coffee pot in a university staff room significantly
increased the takings in the honesty box. They tried different eyes and found
that the most effective eyes were direct and staring.

Dan Ariely has noted that most of us cheat, just a bit, although we still
like to think of ourselves as honest (and most certainly want others to think
this). So when we believe we are being watched, we are more honest. The Bateson
experiment highlights how this is so deeply ingrained we are even persuaded by a
pair of eyes.

Historical people knew this too, and the 'evil eye' and protective eye
symbols have been used for many, many years. Even the James Bond '007' moniker
originated with the '00' as a pair of eyes, with the magical number 7 to protect
them.

We also follow the gaze of people in pictures, wondering what they are
looking at. Hence if a number of people are shown, looking at your product, then
viewers will also end up staring at the product too.

Nice scenery

Another image that people often respond well to is the great
outdoors. Pictures of trees, mountains, lakes and meadows make us feel good,
which is why so many adverts use such images as backdrops, even when the product
has nothing to do with it.

Nature can also be abstractly included with potted plants in
inside scenes or even general green hues across a picture. The warm glow of the
sun or sunsets can alternatively be portrayed with red or orange hues.